Talking everything Dallas Cowboys

NFL draft: Could Marquise Brown fall to the Cowboys?

(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)

Oklahoma’s Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, cousin of the All-Pro Antonio Brown, might fall out of the first round. Could he land in the Dallas Cowboys’ lap?

The Cowboys landed a stud receiver in Amari Cooper by trading away a first round pick to the Oakland Raiders. Michael Gallup, picked in the third round of last year’s draft, gathered momentum as the year came to a close. However, there is a good chance that Cole Beasley decides to test free agency.

Regardless of what happens to Beasley, the team should look to replace/upgrade the receiver position in the draft.

The Dallas Cowboys’ first pick in the 2019 NFL draft comes in the second round (pick 58 overall). Oklahoma’s star wide receiver, Marquise Brown, recently received surgery on his leg so this may push him to the Cowboys’ first selection.

This week, news broke that Brown would miss the combine due to LisFranc surgery. Tearing of the LisFranc ligament can be a mild injury, or it would require surgery and up to six weeks in a cast. Both require injury rehab.

Brown is expected to be healthy by training camp, per Adam Schefter. Before the surgery, he was a projected first round pick. But for someone like Brown, missing the 40-yard dash will damage his stock.

As a primarily outside receiver, Brown made most of his plays on deep passes down the field. Granted it is tough to evaluate Big-12 receivers due to the lack of talent on the other end, but Brown has the wheels to play at the next level.

Much like his cousin, the receiver out of Oklahoma is a long strider despite his lack of size. This lack of height makes it difficult to win contested balls. His catch radius is not spectacular, but Brown’s hands are pretty efficient inside of it.

Once Brown gets the ball in his hands, he has above-average vision and instincts to make yards after the catch. Route running wise, he ran mostly crossers, go routes, hitches, and double moves down the field. But what is on tape is pretty good.

He has a good feeling on how to get through defensive backs going across the middle. On his hitches, he tends to sell the go route and turn around but does not consistently come back to the ball.

His route running needs a lot of fine-tuning, but he did not have to be that skilled to win against Big-12 defenses- he mostly won using his God-given physical strengths.

Brown could show immediate impact if he is selected to a team with an established number one receiver. The Cowboys fit this mold pretty well. Brown might struggle to win on the outsides with press coverage. But he could be a slot receiver that is just one play from taking it the distance.

The Cowboys do not need an outside receiver, Gallup and Cooper are just fine. But having a receiver that can expose the middle of the field would improve Dallas’ offense dramatically.

Even with the injury, Brown may still be drafted in the first round, but stealing Brown in the second round would be a risk with homerun potential for America’s team.

Share this:

Like this:

Published by Nathan Jones

I attend Texas A&M University. I have been a Cowboys fan since I was an embryo. I have lived through the terrible 8-8 days and hope to one day witness a Superbowl. I'm also a contributing writer for the Landry Hat and Locked on Texans.
View all posts by Nathan Jones